The Rescue Flight
The Rescue Flight by W. E. Johns was first serialized in Modern Boy magazine, issues 33 to 42, between 1st Oct 1938 and 3rd Dec 1938 under the title Biggles' Rescue Flight. It was first published in book form by Oxford University Press in May 1939. There has been at least 14 subsequent editions in the English language. The book is one of only two full length Biggles novels set during World War 1. Synopsis Nigel Fortymore has been shot down and presumed killed over the Western Front. His brother Peter and friend Dick Ripley believe that he might still be alive and they run away from school to look for him. They steal two Sopwith Camels and end up in Maranique where they are inducted into 266 Sqn and get some help from Biggles and Algy. Plot Note: The sections below contain spoilers. In particular, the plot subpage (click here) has an extended summary of the narrative in the book Characters *Biggles *Algy Lacey *Peter Fortymore *Captain Nigel Fortymore *Dick Ripley *Major Mullen *Major Raymond *Captain Mahoney *Captain MacLaren *Wat Tyler *Thompson *Flight Sergeant Smyth *Willy Schmidt *Father Dupont *Shorty Grimsdon *Captain Forsyth *Colonel Thonberg Aircraft *Sopwith Camel *Albatros *Avro 504 *D.H.4 *Bristol Fighter *Rumpler *F.E.2 - a footnote by W. E. Johns refers to the F.E.2d but in the book Thirty mentions that the F.E. had a Beardmore engine and this can only mean the earlier F.E.2b model which, historically, was used as a night bomber after being relegated from the daytime fighter role. *Pfalz Places Visited *266 Sqn, Maranique *Douai Mentioned *Rundell School *London **Mayfair - the Fortymore townhouse **Hounslow *Zafferville - Nigel Fortymore's aircraft was seen falling out of control here. *Berglaken *Tatzgart - Nigel Fortymore's prison camp in Germany. *Savy *Belville-sur-Somme Research Notes *Aerial Victories: **Biggles: orange-coloured Albatros, Chapter 3 **Biggles: purple-striped Albatros, Chapter 4 **Algy: Fokker triplane probable, Chapter 8 *Other R.F.C. and R.N.A.S. Units mentioned: **84 Squadron (R.N.A.S.) - Nigel Fortymore's squadron **100 Squadron (R.F.C.) - flying F.E.2s. Shorty Grimsdon's squadron. Biggles would later meet Captain Fernwell from the same squadron after it had been re-equipped with the Handley Page 0/400 bomber. 100 Sqn actually existed and was equipped with the F.E.2 and later the Handley Page. Incongruities *In Chapter 3, Mullen mentions that Biggles commands "B" flight. This is probably the only time this glitch occurs. Elsewhere, Biggles is consistently head of "C" flight, with MacLaren taking "B" flight and Mahoney taking "A". *The distances quoted and involved in the book are, at times, implausible. **Thirty says Berglaken was about a hundred miles away from Maranique. But a hundred miles from the Western Front does not take one to the German border. **If one remembers that even for a flight to Brussels (in Biggles' Paperchase), Biggles needed to land behind enemy lines and refuel, it does not seem plausible that the Bristol Fighter and the Camels could have made it to Berglaken in Germany and back without refueling. Most likely, the rescue flight carried spare fuel in cans and refueled after landing, but such details were too trivial to mention in the text. **Landing ground C, near Belville-sur-Somme is quite clearly in France. Chronology (see also table at Timeline of the Biggles Stories) *This novel was published in 1939 and uses a plot premise which first appeared in The Professor Comes Back which is set in May 1918. Some researchers set Rescue Flight in late 1918. *However there are a number of time indications in the novel which we can use as references: **The Richthofen Circus is still equipped with Albatrosses (Biggles mentions this in Chapter 4). Deliveries of the Fokker Dr.I to the unit began in October 1917 but the triplanes were grounded in November 1917 because of structural problems. The squadrons in JG1 did not become fully equipped with the Dr.I until early 1918. If JG1 had triplanes, even in small numbers, Biggles might have mentioned them. So a conservative view is to place Rescue Flight before October 1917. **Raymond is still a major - researchers generally place his promotion to Colonel after the events of Biggles Flies East which takes place in November 1917. **The Fokker Dr.I Triplane is still in use - although not adopted in large numbers until early 1918, the Triplane was developed and test through late 1917. After the appearance of the Fokker D.VII in April 1918, it was steadily replaced. The use of the Triplane therefore rules out a date in late 1918. **The cover of the 1st ed. shows a front-line before the drastic salient caused by the German Spring Offensive "Operation Michael" of late March 1918. **100 Sqn, which appears in this story, is still flying the F.E.2 as a night bomber. Historically, this squadron converted to the Handley Page Type 0 heavy bomber in August 1918. In the W. E. Johns/Biggles universe, 100 Sqn was flying the Handley Page Type 0 by around Christmas time 1917 (see Biggles' Christmas Tree!) so Rescue Flight must have been set before Christmas 1917. *These indications point to a timeframe after the arrival of Algy (August 1917) but before Biggles Flies East (November 1917) and with the mention of the Albatrosses in JG1, sometime between August-October 1917. Editions Category:Books Category:Biggles books Category:World War One era books